Agenda

Day 16 is our discussion on Ubiquitous and Pervasive Computing. We will read a major article that founded the field nearly 30 years ago. Scientists and academics often make many predictions about the future and not all of them come true. We will discuss to what extent Weiser’s vision of pervasive computing has come to pass.

Please read the following article to prepare for today’s discussion:

Weiser91: The Computer for the 21st Century, Scientific American. 1991

Get ready

Read the article and prepare for the discuss by completing the questions below. Fill out your responses in a document called UbicompDiscussion and place the document in your Google Drive folder.

Questions for Weiser91:

Weiser discusses that technologies become invisible when they enter the periphery. He provides writing and electric motors as two examples. What other examples can you determine? Why?
Weiser discusses the power of ubiquitous computing as making previously inert objects smart. What object in your daily life, if it became smart, would drastically improve your quality of life? Consider tedious things everyday or a large task that could be solved through “smart” methods.
Fundamentally, Weiser is proposing that ubiquitous technologies should bring people closer together and remove barriers between them. Do you believe the current state of technology brings people together or keeps them apart? Is the current technological landscape “as refereshing as taking a walk in the park”?